Battle Over L.A. Alien Invasion Films

Deadline:
A real battle is brewing between rival aliens-invade-Los Angeles films Skyline and Battle: Los Angeles. Sony Pictures Entertainment, the studio behind the big budget Battle: Los Angeles, is exploring its legal options. At issue: Greg and Colin Strause, the owners of visual effects house Hydraulx, were paid millions of dollars to generate visual effects work for Battle: Los Angeles. But Hydraulx never informed SPE the siblings were directing a VFX-driven rival alien invasion feature that will hit theaters four months before SPE's March 12, 2011 release. SPE higher-ups discovered it was in a real horse race after Universal Pictures released a trailer that showed Los Angeles denizens being vacuumed into the sky by hovering space ships.